GEORGE TOWN, April 6 — DAP legal adviser RSN Rayer today questioned why no charges have been filed in an alleged assault case involving a woman in Balik Pulau, George Town.
He said the woman was attacked by a man in front of her shop along Jalan Tun Sardon, in an incident clearly captured on CCTV.
“She suffered bruises on her left and right hands after the man kicked her,” he said at a press conference at DAP headquarters here today.
He said she lodged a police report on the incident but alleged that no action was taken.
“I wrote to them on March 9 and the police replied on March 18 that the case was classified as ‘refer to magistrate’,” he said.
He added that the man who attacked Fam had not been charged in court to date.
“At the very least, the man should be charged under Section 323 of the Penal Code for voluntarily causing hurt,” he said.
He stressed that there was video evidence of the incident allegedly depicting the man assaulting the woman.
“It is an attack by a man against a woman, in a public place. If no action is taken, how are we to protect women?” he asked.
Rayer said the woman was not involved in any argument and was merely recording the incident when she was attacked.
“You can see from the video, she is not involved. All she does is record what is happening, and then she is assaulted,” he said.
The incident, which occurred on March 4 at about 12.20pm, began with a minor accident in which a car parked on the roadside reversed into the woman, Fam Yean Nie’s car.
She then approached the vehicle, but the passenger and driver denied hitting her car.
“I asked if they could share their car dashcam recording and that was when the man came out and kicked a traffic cone on the roadside, which hit my car,” she said.
Fam said the man became irate and removed his shirt as if to attack, while her husband and workers at the shop intervened to hold him back.
“I stood aside and recorded the whole incident with my phone as he was shouting and suddenly, another man, who is his son, came towards me and kicked me, causing me to hit the racks behind me,” she said.
As a result, she said she suffered bruises on both her right and left hands.
Rayer said he has written, and intends to write further, to the relevant authorities, including the investigating officer and the Attorney General’s Chambers, to seek clarification on the decision not to charge the man who allegedly assaulted Fam.
“As a lawyer and a Member of Parliament, I believe these are incidents where the police must take action. You cannot simply say ‘refer to Magistrate’ and then close the case,” he said.
He added that he will continue to pursue the matter, including writing to the prosecution unit and the Attorney General’s Chambers in Putrajaya.
